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Mr. Michael Turek, a representative from the Bellwood-Antis Lions Club, was on hand to donate a new vision screener to the Bellwood-Antis School District on Tuesday.

Mr. Turek made an appearance at the media center to meet with the administrative team and take a photo with his granddaughters: Addy, Avery and Acadia Turek, all students at BASD.

“Funds were available from the (Lions Club) Foundation to purchase low-vision items for school districts and also for the libraries, things like large-print books,” said Mr. Turek. The Foundation consists of all of the Lions Clubs in Blair County.

This donation is of great benefit to the school. Bellwood-Antis currently has only two vision screeners, which makes the screening process take longer than necessary. With this addition from Mr. Turek and the Lions Club, vision screenings will move more efficiently, school nurse Kelly Hoover said.

“This is important to us because the school nurses have to screen over 1,200 kids in this school district alone,” Mrs. Hoover said. “With three screeners we can now get a third nurse in here to screen and make it go quicker.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Health mandates every student in the district to have a vision screening every year.

“We like to do the vision screening in the fall, at the beginning of the school year. We do it then so vision problems can be identified and treated at the beginning of the school year,” Mrs. Hoover said. 

The Lions Club has vision programs with goals of “developing and improving eye care systems and treatments to distributing medications to those most at-risk for eye diseases”.

Read more about the Lions Club and its commitment to eye and hearing health here.

Mr. Turek said the new, up-to-date machines meet Pennsylvania standards and ensure B-A keeps up with ever evolving equipment.

Thank you to Mr. Turek and the Lions Club for the donation of the vision screener!